Seasons of the Heart
by Laughing Still
Summary: Just as the world goes through its seasons, so does the heart. Kakashi swore that he was going to be there for every one in her heart and win it in the end. KakaAnko, IruShi, AsuKure AU.
1. Chapter 1: January

_Seasons of the Heart_

 _By_

 _Laughing Still_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, wish I did but I don't.

Summary: Just as the world goes through its seasons, so does the heart and Kakashi was going to be there for every one of her heart and win it in the end.

 _Chapter 1: Winter_

The weatherman said that tomorrow was supposed to be sunny and still but as of 6:13 this Friday night in the dead of winter, grey clouds and a constant, restless wind moved through Okemos. Winters in Michigan were always unpredictable, and tonight the state seemed to be hell-bent to remind its population of that.

Kakashi Hatake paused as he wandered through the trails behind the apartment complex, allowing the irritable wind to hit him full force and attempt to blow him over. It didn't succeed.

The sunlight was fading off to his right and he couldn't help but think this was an accurate illustration of the heart of a young woman who barely knew he existed, and a heart he desperately wanted to get to know better.

6 months ago, Kakashi had been practicing Israeli martial arts on the mats of the taekwondo studio he ran with his best friend , Iruka Umino as their third friend and co-sensei Asuma Sarutobi egged them on. Iruka was just showing Kakashi a krav ma ga headlock when the cheerful jingle of the bell on the door informed them they had visitors and all three of them froze as the universe turned upside down.

Three gorgeous young women were standing in their studio and introducing themselves. They had all just recently moved into the area, the one named Kurenai and the apparent ringleader had said, and were looking at getting into martial arts as a way to blow off steam from school. Asuma, recovering first, had had the sense to say they had come to the right place, and asked why they were in the area. As Kurenai elaborated, Kakashi and Iruka disentangled themselves from each other and joined the small crowd, feigning a calm exterior while inside praying the girls didn't look too closely at their rumpled uniforms.

It turned out that all three were new students at MSU, starting this fall. Kurenai was pursuing a double Ph.D. in psychology and politics, particularly interested in crowd psychology. Shizune was beginning medical school and the third young woman, Anko, was going for her bachelor's in criminal justice, fresh out of the Marine Corp military police.

"Wow, so you guys will be here for a while!" Asuma commented, the delight in his voice glaringly obvious. "Well, it'll be good to get to know you. So, when do you guys want to start?"

They had started the next day and graced that dojo at least three times a week, making all three men relish life and hate it at the same time. Asuma was by far the worst, and Kakashi wasn't sure if Kurenai's blatant encouragement was helping or harming things. On the one hand, you had to be legitimately blind to not see that Kurenai's "glow factor" (as Anko called it) went on high whenever Asuma walked in the room and that Asuma inexplicably grew about an inch and a half when the adult class rolled around at seven. On the other, the stakes were pretty darn high on all ends if Asuma screwed this up. On the most basic level, Kurenai was a student and Asuma was an instructor, and if history could be trusted, those relationships never tended to end well. Additionally though, this wasn't just Asuma's and Kurenai's hearts on the line. If this went south, this was three newly formed friendships splitting, the ruination of any chance Iruka and Kakashi had, and, on a business note, the loss of three customers.

So far so good though and now that the Christmas whirlwind had passed and everyone had lived through their first semester, Iruka was starting to follow Asuma's lead. Not that he was anywhere near as extravagant, oh no. Kakashi could only tell because they had been friends since grade school, and Shizune wouldn't have gone for Asuma's style anyway. There were small things however, a certain smile that only appeared whenever she came to class, renewed patience and enthusiasm with the 3-6 year old Tiny Tigers who, a minute before, where driving Iruka bonkers and, if a single pale pink rose had shyly appeared on Shizune's desk the Friday before Valentine's day, well, Kakashi may or may not have known who had given her that.

Another blast of wind barreled into him, interrupting his mental wandering and he started moving again, fighting to walk in a mostly straight line. The wind was colder and sharper now and he was grateful he had thought to grab his scarf.

He released a deep sigh. Damn, this weather was perfect for her. She would love it, he knew it, and wherever she was at the moment, he would bet his life that she was standing, letting the wind move through her and around her and just _feeling_ it as nature reflected her heart.

See, Asuma may have shown it the quickest, and Iruka may have caught it terribly, but it was Kakashi who was the most doomed. It hadn't taken him 5 classes to figure out which woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Anko Mitarashi. One year younger, 5 inches shorter , and with just as strangely colored hair-deep amethyst. ( Shizune's words, not his, for the record) When she had walked in that dojo door, she was fresh out of the Corp and what was more, fresh out of Afghanistan. Even before he had seen her file though, he could tell she was struggling. Her bearing was unmistakable to a fellow soldier and the way her "YES SIR!" rang across the room that first night instantly informed him she had been on the enlisted side of the fence. Her movements also betrayed her. She was hyper alert, her eyes marking every car that entered the parking lot and scanning the room as often as possible. The power in her strokes was intended to do more than neutralize and there had been more occasions than he could count of Iruka or Asuma telling her to relax. His secondary suspicions were confirmed when he flicked though her paperwork and under "Medical Conditions" was scrawled "PTSD—getting seen". This had triggered mixed emotions in him. His first thought was that he was going to have to watch her like a hawk around the kids and speak to her about it ASAP; the second was now he had an excuse to watch her more openly, and he wasn't sorry at all.

As the days went by, he watched her, learning more about her than she would probably ever be aware. Kakashi couldn't claim to be telepathic or read auras, but being a S.E.A.L. had a way of honing your sixth sense, and what he hadn't learned about people there, he had been taught as a taekwondo instructor.

Anko was wound tight and the intensity radiating off her was nearly tangible. It was as though every emotion inside her was turned on maximum and her body was a thin shell just barely holding everything together. The instructor in him dreaded what she might do to the kids with this much war energy inside her but he was relieved (and pleased) to see that she came down to their level and acted with the utmost attention when practicing her form in the midst of a crowd two feet shorter than her. As close to snapping as she was, he had also seen her laugh and be genuinely happy. She, Kurenai and Shizune could often be heard giggling at some point or another before class and her goofy, loud mannerisms made him smile behind his mask. He found himself listening to the girls' conversations as the months went by, just to learn more about her and he now sensed rather than heard her when she walked in.

Like he said, he was doomed.

The sun was rapidly setting now and his feet had somehow carried him back to the center of the apartment complex. The wind was even stronger than it had been and any former politeness in it was gone. It scolded him for being still being out and so lost in his own mind, but he paid no attention to it, looking instead at the small stream that flowed off to his right, hands crammed in his pockets.

As wonderful as this blossoming romance was, he knew he didn't have a shot yet. Underneath all the emotions and loud, cheerful exterior was a deeply wounded heart and one that was closed to him right now. He wasn't sure what had happened in her past, but she was everything all at once.

There was the soft grind of a patio door opening and he looked up to find the object of all his current thoughts leaning against the railing, looking down at him from the third story. She was in jeans and faded black sweater, hair clipped back today rather than pulled into its usual spiky pony tail.

She didn't seem surprised to see him, returning his gaze with her own calm one, letting him just look.

Letting him see her exactly as she was.

She was hiding, burying the dreams of romance she had cherished so long deep within herself because the last man she'd let in had nearly killed her, and she couldn't go through that twice.

She was wild. If she could have, she would have followed this wind to the ends of the earth, running with it, free and never tiring.

She was determined. The world was entirely hers for the taking and take it she would, surprising everyone and defying all their expectations, shaming anyone who had ever doubted her.

She was single. And oh how she rejoiced in being single. She needed no man; they would come in time and frankly, she was massively over them right now as a species.

She was a hypocrite. As much as she hurt and as shy as she was around romance right now, she _did_ want it eventually and maybe, just maybe…

Another gust of wind came up behind him, catching some of the snow at his feet that had miraculously escaped being trampled on by the dogs and carrying it up to her. Some of the flakes fell into her hair, glittering in the last rays of sunlight and she smiled at him.

He nodded to her and took off, only the sun seeing the small smile in his eyes.

 _Winter must always turn to spring…_


	2. Chapter 2: February

_Chapter 2: Winter_

 _ **February**_

Kakashi knew of no one who loved working late on Saturday's, or working on Saturday at all for that matter. He could sympathize. He had been in the dojo since 8 this morning, teaching 5 year olds through 55 year olds ancient Korean martial arts and getting progressively more worn out. Now it was twelve hours later and there was just one other person on the mats with him. Erik Johnson, a sixteen year old first degree black belt who was hoping to go to the tournament in two weeks and working on his double ssahng joel bong (nunchuck) form. He had been hard at work for the last two hours, several red marks on his head where he had hit himself accidentally and arms about ready to fall off. Kakashi (slightly selfishly) had suggested they quit earlier but Erik had refused. After being out sick with the flu for half a month, he had some major catching up do to and so if Master Hatake didn't mind, he'd like to practice some more.

Master Hatake in fact _did_ mind, but he had shrugged it off. It wasn't like he had anything else to do on a Saturday night, considering his apartment would be empty. Asuma he knew would most likely be haunting the library at MSU "hoping" to run into a certain ruby-eyed graduate student, and Iruka was over in Grand Rapids for the day, helping out one of their fellow dojo instructor run a fitness boot camp. He should be back fairly soon though and Kakashi gave it a 50/50 chance that Iruka would be at the shopping mall, looking for inspiration for a Valentine's day gift for Shizune.

As Erik turned the wrong direction and unknowingly punished himself by smacking his leg, an unconscious scowl came to Kakashi's mouth. He really knew he shouldn't be jealous, and just the tiniest bit bitter about it, but the fact that his two roommates were making rapid headway in their respective romances while he was stuck—literally and metaphorically—was starting to grate on him. While Asuma still put in all his hours, he was gone at the first opportunity he got and his weekends were suddenly booked solid. Kakashi had taken his revenge by giving him the X-fit warrior classes (which was really just a high intensity work out and no martial arts) and the teen/adult beginner belts of White/Orange/Yellow. The beauty of both of these was that now the girls were at camo belt level, Asuma was forced to stay for 3 other classes if he wanted to flirt with his darling.

Iruka, though not nearly as bad, had also started disappearing as well. Kakashi didn't really mind this, it was actually the fact that Iruka had somehow picked up some of Kurenai's 'glow factor' and became just short of saccharine whenever Shizune walked in the room. Kakashi swore he could have reduced the electric bill by half by turning off the lights if only he could convince Shizune to attend every class. He had no idea how this had escaped their students, but he was grateful it had. If any of the mom's suspected the reason why Iruka's sunny personality had exponentially brightened, they would never let it die.

Erik turned again, facing Kakashi, finishing out his form. He was on the last movement when the ssahng joel bong flew out of his left hand and came hurtling toward Kakashi's head. Kakashi's reflexes kicked in automatically and he caught it gracefully, folding it in half as Erik's jaw dropped in shame and horror.

"Master Hatake!" He gasped. "I'm _so_ sorry! I—I don't know what happened!"

Kakashi shrugged, walking over to the boy and handing the weapon back while ignoring his loudly growling stomach. "Muscle failure. No big deal. However, you are certainly done for the night."

Erik nodded, sheepishly folding the weapons under his arm and bowing to his master, face cherry red.

Kakashi bowed back and followed him off the floor. "Good work. That looked much better."

Erik's face lit up.

"I think you have a good chance at the tournament. Just don't overthink it, and you'll be fine."

"Yessir!" Erik beamed, all thoughts of how he had nearly given his instructor a lovely bruise vanishing. "Thank you for letting me practice so long."

Kakashi nodded and after a bit more small talk, found himself alone after waving the teenager good night.

He glanced up at the clock. 8:45. Wow, time had gone by fast.

His stomach growled again and he looked over room. The mats needed wiped down before class tomorrow, but other than that, everything was done. Now the question was, should he go and get the lunch he hadn't had time to eat from the fridge and eat here then scrub the mats, or throw in the towel and worry about it all tomorrow?

His stomach, tired of being ignored for 6+ hours, made the decision for him. He didn't have to worry about the mats, but he wasn't going anywhere without eating a meal first.

It took less than a minute for him to excavate the left over homemade Chinese from the small fridge in the office. Dumping the rice and various vegetables into a bowl, he threw it in the microwave on high, punching in a somewhat randomly chosen amount of cooking time. The bowl had rotated twice before something in him said he should go turn out the lights and lock the door. Knowing how this day had gone, there was probably someone on the way right now who wanted extra sparring practice or something.

Sighing, he headed out for what he promised himself would be the last time tonight and went through the shutdown procedures. Back door locked….supply closet locked…chairs all straightened…walk over to the front, turn off the neon OPEN sign...turn out the lights over the chairs…lights over the m—

He glanced outside. Damn it, that's right, he had to bring in the promotional sign. He knew it was a small thing and he was being ridiculously immature about this, but it was 15 degrees out there, not including wind chill. As though he needed more encouragement to stay indoors, the wind suddenly howled, dragging the sign a few inches to the right.

"C'mon Kakashi. Go and get it and then you can go get dinner. Last thing." He muttered to himself. Opening the door, he retrieved it, an icy blast of wild Michigan wind chilling him instantly as a reward for his efforts. Hurrying inside, he cursed again and shoved the sign roughly out of the way. Completely done, his hand was just on the door to lock it when it burst open, bell jangling violently and the form of a young woman stumbled in, tripping over her own feet and rolling once.

"Mitarashi?!" He half shouted, brain and heart screeching to a dead halt as he caught sight of messy violet hair.

She scrambled up, face flushed and eyes overly bright. "I need to beat the shit out of something. Do you mind?"

He stared at her, his ability to think and speak utterly lost.

Eons away, the microwave informed him that his dinner was finished.

Mitarashi was now close to maroon and not breathing. His conscious prodded him to do something before she passed out.

"Um, sure?" He croaked.

Oh well done Hatake, real eloquent and manly.

Mitarashi released an enormous sigh, though the brilliant hue of her face didn't lessen. "Thanks."

She hesitated a second longer, apparently waiting to be instructed as to just what she was allowed to demolish.

Attempting to buy some more time for his brain to overcome the shock, Kakashi walked over to one of the bags on the right side of the floor and pushed it more toward the center of the room for her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her pulling off her tennis shoes.

"Mitarashi, don't you have a coat?" He asked, the lack of such an essential garment striking him.

Somehow, her face turned even more red. "No. No I don't, sir."

For a moment he wondered if he wanted to ask her the obvious question but he decided against it. The situation was odd enough as it was.

"So, uh" He began, gesturing vaguely to the bag. "I guess just go for it whenever you want."

She nodded and he moved over to the office, wise enough to know that she wasn't going to do anything while he was obviously watching her.

" _YHA!"_

The bag rocked as her right foot made contact with it in a number three front kick.

Not bad.

Another front kick followed, then a number three round kick.

She was breathing hard and her strokes informed him that power was taking priority over accuracy of technique. Not that he was that surprised. He wondered if he was courageous enough (or dumb enough) to ask her what was wrong.

Now she had changed to punches.

Jab, cross, hook, cross.

Wait, in addition to no coat, he hadn't seen headlights flash or heard a car pulling up. How on earth had she gotten here?

Number one front kick, miserably botched back kick and—

 _Whap!_

Mitarashi was sprawled ungracefully on the ground as her lack of technique on her number two round kick with her left foot cost her her balance.

The instructor in him couldn't take it anymore.

"Don't curl your toes on your right foot when you do that kick."

He held out his hand to help her up.

She blinked and took it.

"Keep that entire foot planted, and simply rotate."

She nodded and straightened after he pulled her up.

"Try it again." He said, backing off.

She did so, still wobbling slightly.

"Again. Relax."

She nodded curtly, shoulders only becoming more tense. Kakashi rolled his eyes, they weren't going to get anywhere with this. His eyes fell on the equipment rack and inspiration struck him.

"Mitarashi. Try this."

He retrieved one of the plastic blue boards they used in class to practice board breaks and gestured to the center of the room. She followed him, fractionally calmer and less red than before.

"If you're going to abuse something, you might as well have the satisfaction of having it actually break."

That qip earned him a tiny smile and he felt relief flood through him. He wasn't sure if that was going to fly or not. Maybe he could push his luck a little further. In a bit.

"What kicks, sir?"

"Whatever you want, just tell me first."

She thought for a moment. "Round, first. All three."

He nodded and fell into a front stance. "Remember, 45 degrees for where you want to kick."

She nodded and moved to his left, falling into her own stance.

"Ready when you are."

She drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders, chambered the kick and—

" _YHA!"_

Her foot met the plastic and slid off.

"Follow through next time. You hesitated. Try a number two."

She nodded and changed stances.

One yell later, he was holding two separated pieces of plastic.

"So," He broached, reconnecting the grooves on the board and slamming it against the floor to make sure they locked together. "What's up?"

She huffed, the rage she had taken out on the boards flaring to life again. "An ex."

His heart stopped for a moment. "Ah."

The board smashed under a number three front kick.

"Yeah."

He slammed it against the floor again and resumed his stance, waiting for her to continue and not sure if he wanted her too.

"Do—did—did you ever have the ex who just won't let go?" Her clenched fists fell to her sides but she stayed in her sparring stance.

 _We're getting somewhere._

"Like how?"

"Like won't leave you the hell alone even though you've made it abundantly obvious that he can go die in a hole and you would really be just fine with that. Heck, you'd even assist him."

He turned the board so that the grove between the two pieces was horizontal, guessing she was going to go for another round kick next.

"Does he just not realize the romance is over or wants to be friends or…?"

 _WHAK!_

The board broke a second time and her response came through gritted teeth.

"All of it. He has no clue that any bridge connecting us was napalmed, the pilings gleefully ripped out, and a minefield laid in its place."

"Ah." The board met the floor again. "I see."

"Yeah."

Silence fell and Kakashi didn't care to disturb it. Mitarashi would keep talking if she wanted to, he knew her well enough to know that.

He lost count of how many times she broke that dark blue plastic in half and how often it met the mats that night. After another dozen or so times, she fell into a rhythm, using the blazing anger constructively now. When his calves started cramping from holding a constant front stance, he had her stop, saying he had wanted to try something different.

Her hands dropped and she fell into a back stance while he walked over into the supply closet.

After a minute of digging he found what he was looking for: a large cardboard box filled with unremarkable square pine boards—practice boards for those going up for their black belt. Some part of him briefly wondered if he should really be breaking these out but it was quickly silenced. If Asuma could pseudo-stalk Kuenai and Iruka become a second sun when Shizune walked by, he could spare a few chunks of a pine tree for the girl who considered him nothing more than a living board support at the moment. Who knew, it just might earn him a few brownie points. Couldn't hurt at least.

Said brownie points came about thirty seconds later when he saw realization flash across her face as he set the box on the mats next to him, pulled out one of the boards and resumed his front stance.

"Y-You're kidding?" Her voice was a strained combination of disbelief and hope.

He couldn't help the smirk that appeared. "Nope. Ready when you are."

The temptation to add "sweetheart" was almost overwhelming but he checked it, choosing instead to revel in the excitement that exploded over her face as she fell back into her own stance, her fists actually trembling slightly.

 _In your face, you stupid ex._

"Just so you have a fair warning, these bite. If you don't break it, you'll definitely have a bruise."

"Got it."

"What kick?"

"Number two round, left side."

 _Called it._

He nodded. "Board OK?"

She examined it critically. "A touch lower…there. Perfect."

"Alright. Go when you're ready."

One nod. One long exhale and one spine ramrod straight. One foot left the ground and—

 _ **CRACK!**_

Her foot caught his forearm as it returned to the ground, throwing her off balance. She stumbled forward and he caught her shoulder before she could completely crash into him.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, fine." She replied, brushing it off as she straightened, a smile spreading over her face. "I did it, didn't I?"

He held up the two halves in response.

" _ **YES!"**_

She fist pumped the air, somewhere past Cloud 9. "I did it, I so did it! Men ain't got nothing on boards!"

She turned back to him, pushing back her escaping hair with an impatient hand, her exhilaration infecting him.

"Can I try another one?"

Kakashi waited until he could no longer distinguish her from the snow falling before reentering the dojo and locking the door behind him. Without making a sound, he crossed the room and entered the bathroom, undoing the ties of his instructors blouse while he did so. It slipped off quietly and the white undershirt followed a second later.

A slight smile touched his mouth. Already there were about six good sized bruises blossoming over his chest and upper arms, and he could feel where at least another four would likely appear. They ranged in size from slightly smaller than a golf ball to about the length of a playing card—the heel and ball of Mitarashi's feet.

His eyes moved higher and a young masked man looked back at him from the mirror, reliving the now 5 minute old past.

" _You wearing out?"_

 _It was only partially a question._

 _She nodded, hands falling to her sides._

" _Yeah." She smiled slightly. "Guess I've beaten the shit out of enough things."_

 _He chuckled._

" _Yeah, or at least made a damn fine effort to." He glanced at the stack of broken boards now up to his knee. "You know that after this, you will never have an excuse not to break your boards on the first try, right?"_

 _She laughed, kneeling down and pulling the now empty box to her to help put the pieces back in. "Yeah, I realize that."_

 _The boards were back in their place in the space of two minutes and while he returned the box to the supply closet (and buried it, for good measure), Anko pushed the bag back to where it belonged._

" _Holy cow, is it really 11?"_

 _Kakashi stopped in the middle of locking the supply closet and followed her eyes to the clock._

 _Yes, yes it was. Huh, he hadn't even noticed the time go by._

" _I'm so sorry to have kept you so long, you've got to be exhausted." She hastily apologized, eyes meeting his._

 _He shrugged. "It's no big deal. You needed to blow off steam…and I'm happy to have saved one of your apartment walls, and a textbook."_

 _She laughed guiltily, knowing full well how true that statement was. He waited while she put on her shoes._

" _Well, I'll let you go now. Hey."_

 _She played with her ring finger on her left hand, suddenly shy._

" _Thanks. A lot. I….really appreciate it."_

 _He waited before responding, drinking in the moment and ingraining it into his heart, the fragile hopes and dreams inside him becoming ever so slightly more real._

"… _My pleasure, Anko."_

And it always would be.


End file.
